ELISABETTA VILLA/GETTY IMAGES Blogtown, I was in Mexico for a few days and the world just couldn’t stop getting worse, huh? On the upside, I just took a shower with my mouth open. Journalist Charlie Rose is the latest powerful man outed by several women offering allegations of sexual assault. He’s issued an apology. His […]
Dirk VanderHart
I'm a news reporter for the Mercury. I've spent a lot of the last decade in journalism — covering tragedy and chicanery in the hills of southwest Missouri, politics in Washington, D.C., and other matters elsewhere.
I've been in Portland three years, love it and want to help make it better. Let's keep it amicable!
Posted inNews
Uber’s Bitterest City Council Foes Finally Have the Votes for a Crackdown
And They’re Completely Comfortable with Kicking the Company Out of Portland
And they’re completely comfortable with kicking the company out of Portland.
Posted inHousing
Hall Monitor: The Earthquake Exemption
Should Building Owners Be Able to Duck Renter Relocation Payments While Performing Seismic Upgrades?
Should building owners be allowed to duck renter relocation payments while performing seismic upgrades?
Posted inNews
Mayor Ted Wheeler Is “Satisfied” With Police Involvement in a Secretive Federal Task Force
Groups including the Oregon ACLU, CAIR Oregon, and Portland Copwatch call on the city to nix JTTF involvement last week. Dirk VanderHart Last week a coalition of police watchdogs, civil liberties groups, and others sprung a new proposition on Mayor Ted Wheeler. Two years after the city voted to re-join the FBI’s secretive Joint Terrorism […]
Posted inFood and Drink
North Portland Small-Plate Spot Miho Izakaya Is Closing
Miho Izakaya Miho Izakaya is closing its doors at the end of the month, the restaurant’s owners announced this afternoon. For eight years, the bungalow-turned-hip hangout has been a reliable redoubt of good ramen and tasty small plates in the Interstate corridor. It will be missed. In their announcement, owners Michael and Megan Miho frame […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: Wikileaks <3 DJT Jr., Implausible Skyscrapers, and Roy Moore Was Banned from a Shopping Mall
YOUR MUST-READ: The Atlantic got ahold of private Twitter messages between Wikileaks and Donald Trump, Jr. (mostly from the former to the latter). They include a phony bonhomie, requests that Trump Jr. leak unflattering documents to help Wikileaks seem “impartial” and a bizarre request that Trump ask Australia to appoint accused rapist and Wikileaks founder […]
Posted inNews
Portland’s Now Finding Cryptosporidium In Its Water Supply Weekly
Portland recently went four and a half years without detecting Cryptosporidium in its water supply. Now it can’t go a week without turning up the parasite. The latest detections, the Portland Water Bureau announced today, came in samples collected last week. In fact, samples from November 5, 6, 7, and 8 turned up at least […]
Posted inBooks
After Allegation, a Local Podcaster Is Refusing to Interview Mad Men‘s Matthew Weiner at Powell’s
Matthew Weiner signs books in February. Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner is slated to appear at the Cedar Crossing Powell’s next Thursday. And of course he was just accused of sexual harassment. Now, the local podcaster who was slated to interview Weiner says he’s decided against showing up. David Naimon, […]
Posted inUncategorized
City Council Just Approved $12 Million in New Spending. Some High-Profile Items Didn’t Make the Cut
CCPIXS.COM In plush times like these, the Portland City Council finds itself with millions to play with in November. This year, as the yearly “budget monitoring process” rolled around, the city had roughly $12 million more than anticipated to spend as it would [PDF]. The money, officially earmarked by the council Wednesday morning, will go […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News: Cocky Cops, Plotting Sharks, And the Worst “Investigation” of All Time
BIGMOUSE108 / GETTY IMAGES / MERCURY COMPOSITE FIRST THINGS FIRST: Read our story about a Multnomah County employee who told a Las Vegas audience about Portland’s racist justice system, and incurred the wrath of local officials when she got back. The county even asked that her presentation be taken off the web (we got a […]
Posted inNews
There’s a New Call for Portland to Sever Ties With a Federal Terrorism Task Force
Groups including the Oregon ACLU, CAIR Oregon, and Portland Copwatch call on the city to nix JTTF involvement this morning. Dirk Vanderhart If civil liberties advocates get their way, Portland’s latest city council might be the third in a row to consider the city’s involvement with federal anti-terror investigations. In a call that’s become familiar […]
Posted inNews
A Presentation on Portland’s Racial Biases Has Officials Flipping
They’ve Gotten a Recording Scrubbed from the Web, and Say It’s Inaccurate
They’ve gotten a recording scrubbed from the web, and say it’s inaccurate.